OPINION: Letters to the editor of the Newbury Weekly News
Why I feel commons were under occupation
Further to the letter from Mr Philip J De Monte (Newbury Weekly News, April 10), I don’t think that anyone seeks to insult the memory of service people and their brave actions in any way.
We greatly value their actions and service although, being British, we don’t express those feelings quite as overtly as an American would.
When it comes to the actions of the bureaucrats of the MOD however, we are not quite so grateful.
I will try to help Mr De Monte with a bit of the history of Greenham Common to explain why I, for one, consider the commons to have been liberated from military occupation.
A little bit of knowledge about common land would help his understanding of the situation.
Common land is land owned formerly by the lord of the manor but over which local residents had rights of common to graze animals, take wood for their fire, gravel for their paths and tracks and gorse for bedding their animals.
These rights go back a thousand years of more and would have been essential for the survival of the owners of the rights and are attached to local properties.
These rights have been fought for in our courts for all that time.
During WW2 the MOD were looking for land for airfields and requisitioned a number of commons in the South of England for this purpose.
Commoners throughout the country, Greenham and Crookham included, were happy to give up their rights temporarily for the period of the conflict for the benefit of the nation.
There was no compensation offered and none asked for.
It was, after all, a time of national emergency.
At the end of the conflict this land was returned to the people.
At Greenham and Crookham, however, a few years later the MOD rerequisitioned the land for the Cold War conflict.
Again, the commoners patriotically gave up their rights expecting them to be returned after the conflict ended.
Once the Cold War was over the MOD decided that they wanted to sell the land, which they had never paid for and the loss of which had never been compensated for, to add funds to the MOD coffers.
In the view of the commoners and most of the people of Newbury, the MOD was effectively stealing the commons.
The actions of a few commoners in asserting their rights and the intervention of a local businessman in setting up the Greenham Common Trust meant that the commons could be purchased back from the MOD, although their actual ownership was disputed.
The effective theft of the commons by the MOD left a very bad taste in the mouth locally and in any future war I think the people of Newbury would be reluctant to let our land be requisitioned without strong reassurance that the land would be returned as soon as possible.
As a campaigner for the return of the commons, a commoner, a parish councillor and a commons commissioner I would want a written assurance that the MOD would return the land.
The MOD has shown that bureaucrats are not to be trusted so we feel that after years of struggle we liberated our land from occupation; bureaucratic occupation rather than military.
There was no journalistic sensationalism, just a reflection of local attitudes to the bureaucrats of the MOD.
There is only an appreciation of the efforts of the PBI, the Poor Bloody Infantry!
And I hope that explanation assuages Mr DE Monte’s anger somewhat.
Ken Neal
Former secretary of Commons Again and the Commoners’ Association
Basingstoke Road, Newbury
Get back on your bike with Couch to 50K
I wanted to make fellow NWN readers aware of a new collaborative programme being run by West Berkshire Spokes, Newbury Road Club and Newbury Velo.
We are calling it ‘Couch to 50K’, and it is aimed at getting adults back on their bicycle, on a bicycle for the first time or simply those wishing to cycle further and need some support getting there.
This is a free and flexible programme which includes some basic maintenance, expert guidance along with bike-handling skills.
If, you are interested, or know someone who might be please contact me, William at events@westberkshirespokes.org
William Pitt
West Berkshire Spokes
Hair-brained scheme is being forced on us
So, we are to have pedestrianisation from 10am to 11pm forced on us, whether we like it or not, despite most businesses and nearly 60 per cent of people being against it.
I mistakenly thought we lived in a democracy, where the majority view prevails, but this is obviously no longer the case in Newbury.
The last time I looked, Southern England is not on the same latitude as the South of France, where you can eat outside probably nine months of the year.
In England, if we are lucky (remember last summer’s washout?), you have about three months of good summer weather.
This idea of Newbury having a Continental café-style culture year round is a ridiculous idea.
On another point, if the town centre is going to be fully pedestrianised for longer, will this mean cyclists and people on escooters will be banned from riding through there?
As I suspected, the so-called public consultation on this was just a PR exercise and this was going to happen anyway.
I urge our esteemed councillors to rethink this ludicrous decision.
I would remind them that they are elected to carry out the wishes of the people, not embark on hair-brained schemes that people neither want or need.
There is nothing wrong with the current pedestrianisation between 10am and 5pm.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
Dave Shields
Wash Common
Is new Primark store a race to the bottom?
You’ve made much fanfare around the opening of Primark in Newbury.
I would like to contribute that Primark makes H&M look absolutely fabulous.
It’s an economic tragedy that our high street has lost so many shops and stores including John Lewis, Superdry and Jigsaw, and even dear Wilko.
I fully recognise that times are tough for so many people and the future is very uncertain.
But welcoming in disposable fast fashion is circumspect.
According to reports, much of their cheap garments end up as waste in landfills.
It’s better to purchase something made with quality in mind, and purchase less, or even buy vintage clothing that has lasted the ages.
Is bringing in Primark a race to the bottom?
Blake Ludwig
Newbury
Newbury’s bus station in the 1970s and 1980s
This was probably the best location for the bus station during its meandering around the streets of Newbury.
This is now the site of the Kennet Centre multi-storey car park.
You have to blame Sainsbury’s for the demise of this bus station.
Late 80s they wanted to expand their store and move car parking to their side of the road.
In those days if you had a trolley load of groceries you had to negotiate a busy one-way street to get to Newbury’s original multi-storey.
Hence, they demolished a perfectly good car park (the original multi-storey) and moved the bus station across the road.
The existing KC multi-storey was then built in its place.
This all took place late 80s early 90s.
After spending all that money, the concept of the out-of-town superstores arrived, and Sainsbury's moved out in 1993 and started the demise of the Kennet Centre.
Brian Burgess
Andover Road, Newbury
A poetic picnic with our favourite bear
THE BEAR’S RETURN
If you go down to the town today
You’ll never believe your eyes.
If you go over the bridge today
You’re in for a big surprise.
For Paddington Bear is sat on his seat
With brand new hat and a sandwich to eat.
So welcome back dear little bear
We’ve missed you.
If Biggles and Co come walking by
Give them a stare and look in their eyes.
And tell them to go and mend their planes
And never come back to Newbury again.
For your are our bear, and here you stay
Never again to be taken away.
Three cheers for Paddington.
Michael W Cryer
Enborne Road, Newbury
